Restorative Practice and PB4L

All schools in this sample use restorative practices, some tailoring them to align with their specific school values. Five of these seven schools use PB4L School-Wide and the other two have programmes already in place successfully targeting school culture and behaviour.

PB4L School-Wide

Positive Behaviour for Learning – School-Wide (PB4L School-Wide) is a framework that schools can use to develop a social culture that supports learning and positive behaviour. Based on international evidence, it looks at behaviour and learning from a whole-of-school as well as an individual child perspective.

PB4L School-Wide takes the approach that opportunities for learning and achievement increase if:

the school environment is positive and supportive

expectations are consistently clear

children are consistently taught desired behaviours

children are consistently acknowledged for desired behaviours and responded to in a fair and equitable way.

PB4L School-Wide takes 3-5 years to put in place. Over this time, schools should see:

incidents of problem behaviour decline

the behaviour of students improve

teachers spending more time teaching

students more engaged and achieving.

Priority is given to secondary schools, low-decile schools with high numbers of Māori and Pacific Island students on their roll and schools that can be part of a School-Wide cluster.

PB4L-Restorative Practice (PB4L RP) model

Two of the schools in this sample are pilot schools for an integrated PB4L RP model.

Restorative Practice is defined by these three components:

Restorative Essentials are the everyday, informal interactions between adults and students in a school. Restorative Essentials emphasise relationships; respect, empathy, social responsibility and self-regulation, focusing on ‘keeping the small things small’.

Restorative Circles are a semi-formal practice requiring some preparation. Restorative Circles support teachers and their students to build and manage relationships and create opportunities for effective teaching and learning time.

Restorative Conferencing is a range of formal tools to help schools respond to misconduct and harm. These tools include Mini Conferences, Classroom Conferences and formal Restorative Conferences. Conferencing is most often facilitated by a school’s management and pastoral staff.

Te Kotahitanga and He Kākano

Five of the seven schools are participants in Te Kotahitanga or He Kākano (the programme initiated in 2009 specifically for school leaders and including coaching and mentoring). These programmes increase school-wide capability regarding culturally responsive curriculum and enhance the leadership of change. Principals in these schools particularly appreciated the input of the programme facilitators and mentors and valued their expertise and input as external critical friends.

The Te Kotahitanga schools use aspects of the Effective Teacher Profile as part of their appraisal tools.

Manaakitanga – teachers care for their students as culturally located human beings above all else.

Mana motuhake – teachers care for the performance of their students.

Ngā whakapiringatanga – teachers are able to create a secure, well-managed learning environment.

Wananga – teachers are able to engage in effective teaching interactions with Māori students as Māori.

Ako – teachers can use strategies that promote effective teaching interactions and relationships with their learners.

Kotahitanga – teachers promote, monitor and reflect on outcomes that in turn lead to improvements in educational achievement for Māori students.

The Effective Teaching Profile was implemented in the classroom of participating teachers in 2004 and 2005 by means of the Te Kotahitanga Professional Development Programme. This programme consists of an initial induction hui, which is followed by a term-by-term cycle of formal observations, follow-up feedback, group co-construction meetings, and targeted shadow-coaching. Other activities that support this programme, such as new knowledge, new teaching strategies and/or new assessment procedures are introduced on a ‘needs’ basis.